Barca v Inter Preview: Valverde's Messi PTSD and the Worrisome Listlessness of Gerard Pique

     

     Inter Milan are welcomed by Barcelona back to Camp Nou for the first time since the second leg of the dramatic 2010 Champions league semifinals, in which Jose Mourinho's team held on to a 3-1 first leg victory. They fought off an incredibly harsh red card that bordered on insanity after Sergio Busquets, a Barca legend, fell to ground feinting to the ref that Thiago Motta had hit him in the face.

     Motta was sent off in what is now one of the most infamous sending offs in Champions league history, with Busquets a target for criticism and controversy over his play-acting.

      He has since stopped that and is a better player for it. Inter has since moved on from the nucleus of that Champions league winning team and are now out of the basement they were in the last five years, with attacking talent in spades with La Masia academy player and the type of striker that can cause Barca problems in  Mauro Icardi

World cup final hero for Croatia: Ivan Perisic, ex La Masia (Barcelona) youth academy graduate Keita Balde who was sensational at the World Cup in the one match he played, Candreva putting in dangerous passes from the wings, Brozovic orchestrating in midfield  (another Croatian who was instrumental in that nation's World cup success) and Barca target, Inter Milan center back colossus Milan Skriniar.
        They've developed a talented, multi-dimensional squad in these last few seasons, with Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan missing out on this match  through injury, thankfully for Barca.

        Their manager, the experienced Italian Mr. Spaletti, will most likely set them up to be an abrasive outing for the Catalan giants who have given the Italian club a boost with their talisman and the greatest player the world has ever seen, Lionel Messi, missing the match through a nasty injury to his arm vs Sevilla  (after he had already notched a disgusting goal and assist in only 24 minutes).
        This should create a situation wherein Spaletti sends out a high pressing team, organized, but intent on creating chaos in the Barcelona backline and midfield. They should be sent out there, at Camp Nou, to be brave and fierce, winning and contesting for every ball....because as confident as Barcelona fans can and should be, at this current moment we've seen Barca be second best to breaking up play, winning the ball back and overall commitment in the tackle and in the press.
      All worrying signs for a team without their captain and leader, a human master in Messi who captivates and commands absolute precision and dedication to the work on the pitch, at least to match as much as he believes you're capable of, and then he'll push you for 10% more. He does this without shouting or yelling (although we've seen an increasingly more vocal and  call contesting Messi, with negative body language sent Dembele or any other teammate's way when disappointed), Messi gets his way through his presence alone.
       That presence will definitely be missing. It's not only goals that the little Argentine brings to the table, it's not even assists, of course he offers a plethora of both, but his overall game and the flow he guides, is unmatched in futbol at the moment.
       Only Messi's teammate Busquets and Chelsea FC's Eden Hazard are the only two players even close to matching Messi's value, influence and overall importance for their respective teams. He creates giant lanes for Alba to go screaming into with his long range, off the ground through balls, his interplay at the top of the box with Luis Suarez has been telepathic since 2014, his dribbling and even the mere threat of his runs sends an entire back four into anarchy.
      How can you replace that?
      You can't.
      Barcelona will be up against it, today, with Inter Milan trying to seize an opportunity to get themselves into the knockout rounds and potentially as group winners with Messi out of the picture. They will hunt, hound and harass Barca players into mistakes at all costs, launching into furious tackles to win possession at all times and most of all, if Spaletti has done his homework, go after the core distribution of Barcelona in Ter Stegen, Pique and Busquets.
     If they can cut that tunnel of flowing futbol off, the Messi-less front three will have scraps to feed upon.
     This is why in an attempt to counter the intense pressing and near manic play of Inter, Barcelona's wayward manager Ernesto Valverde

MUST go with this XI:
GK Ter Stegen
RB Semedo
CB Pique
CB Lenglet
LB Alba
CDM Busquets
RCM Roberto
LCM LDM Arthur
LF / LCM Coutinho
RF RW CAM Dembele
CF Suarez

     This faster, pacier and more creative midfield three in lieu of the tireless, but gassed Rakitic, will bypass the Inter press with the triangular passing of Busquets, Roberto and Arthur, with the two latter midfielders posing the ability to fly through challenges and get through the lines of Inter's press and feed the front three in those corresponding spaces.

     With the backline, we need to see Pique man up, sack up, and lead by example. Too many times do we see Pique begin to believe he's a midfielder and get pulled out of position up the pitch, leaving a gaping hole in behind the size of Ronaldo's ego. Semedo's world class pace and recovery skills have surely masked Pique's incredible indecisiveness and near volatile decision making. Because of this, Nelsinho Semedo and Sergi Roberto should start on the inside right, to protect Pique and Busquets from the press from that side and to shut the streaking Ivan Perisic down after combination play may break the Barca midfield.
      So...expect Ter Stegen to make a few incredible saves to help Barca and Semedo to make some fantastic challenges to save Pique, if he's off of his game.
      Let's hope we see the old Pique, who drops a bit deeper to survey and anticipate play, letting the faster Lenglet press a bit further with the safe knowledge that Jordi Alba's tremendous recovery speed and Pique, being in position, will back him up.
     If Barcelona can remain patient, calm on the ball, use the ball for defense, bypass the midfield lines by using Roberto's dribbling ability in midfield over Rakitic's notable, reliable steel (which is what this matchup calls for), if Ousmane Dembele

can remain active, working, running, creating and running into space in behind and staying in tune with Suarez , if Coutinho can drop deep and affect play, while also staying up top, keeping width and getting his usual shots on  target and lastly, if Luis Suarez

can take on that mantle, develop play, get involved and most importantly bury the ball in the back of the net, Barca will hold serve without Messi and take this one, even with a furious press and attacking mentality of Inter Milan.
      I predict, even with full knowledge of the predicament of Gerard Pique and his struggles, as well as Inter Milan's expected fiercely competitive fire going into this one, with players like Icardi and Keita having much to prove to their former club, I will go with:
Barcelona 3
Inter Milan 2


Dembele with 2 assists and a goal
Suarez with an assist and a goal
And Sergi Roberto with a long range blast from a Dembele layoff.

Perisic will score twice to bring the 3-0 deficit within reason, but Barcelona will maintain control, even with shaky and risky moments from Pique at the back.